You say you want a revolution

The Breaking Light

What happens when a former anarchist becomes director of marketing
at a candy company, and the Christian Right unites at a shareholder
meeting to stand behind the risk-averse, evil head of Finance
who wants to put a stop to the new product, called "Shitballs"?
Not much.

It is unfortunate, because Sander Hicks is a gifted writer.
His poetic language combines the sharp banter of Mamet with the
poetry of Heiner Müller. With guns drawn in the boardroom,
the director of Finance speaks, "The tree of liberty is occasionally
fed with blood."

Hicks's understanding of poetic situation creates an executive
hunting trip in which interviewees for their motivational speaker
slot are shot down if their mental accuity did not keep pace.

The most glaring structural problem is when Fitz, the CEO, is
killed by the hated Leonard. Calculatrice has the perfect opportunity
to turn Leonard into the authorities and take control of the company.
Instead, she incomprehensibly hides the death of Fitz, while Leonard
gathers forces for a full attack on the firm.

The script winds up in an endless Marxist diatribe that seems
naively outdated, and is reminiscent of the worst in '60s political
drama: The rich are bad! The poor must unite!

Words don't change people, concrete action does. And in the final
analysis, no character changes.

Director Siedlecki created a particularly exquisite scene where
the poetry and visuals meet and explode. Calculatrice lies on
a desk in the form of a fallen deer. With a microphone near her
mouth, she intones a poem of the corporate life as hunt. A Kronos
quartet type piece plays as eerie accompaniment. Robert Wilson
and Richard Foreman's visions echo here. It is unfortunate that
there were not more magical moments like this.

SevernClay's set was clean, shiny and sleak - almost
all metal and on wheels. The fashionable black corporate attire
contrasted with the dressed-down blue-collar look in Robin
I. Shane's sleak and stunning costumes.

The sound design by Jennifer Leong--including birds, guns,
and various music--was indeed music to the ears. Though at times
it was hard to hear the actors.

Emme Shaw deftly played the knife-edged Calculatrice.
James Urbaniak managed to make the unlikable Leonard Kildare
endearing. Sean Gullette, Joe Golden, Mark Byrne,
Paul Albe, Daniel Pardo all put in admirable performances.
And Rosemarie Cepeda and Joyce Lee played a couple
of memorable moments as the all-but-forgotten confectioners' union
members, who would rather eat lunch and write a comedy than start
a revolution. Maybe Mr. Hicks should join them.Box Score: